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Skinny skiers secure season titles

Wittenberg, Peiffer among B.C. Cup season champs
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Swift skiers

Mila Wittenberg and Benita Peiffer wrapped up B.C. Cup cross-country aggregate titles, while several other Whistler and Pemberton skiers finished high in the season rankings after the series concluded with the B.C. Championships in Kelowna over the weekend.

Wittenberg and Peiffer topped their midget girls' age groups after recording more strong finishes during races held Feb. 28 to March 2, with Wittenberg claiming the division for 2001-born athletes and Peiffer ranking first among 2000-born skiers.

Many other locals came close to season titles and settled for runner-up finishes during the winter series.

Whistler's Lauren Doak ended the campaign in second place for the junior girls (1996) group. Joe Davies was the No. 2 skier this season in the midget boys' (2001) division, and Brent Murdoch placed second in the master men's (50 to 59) category. Pemberton's Ethan Hess rounded out his winter as the runner-up for the open men's sit-ski group.

Third-place finishers from either the Whistler or Spud Valley Nordics included Linnea Uunila (bantam girls' 2002) and Lennox Davies (peewee boys' 2004).

Overall, the Whistler Nordics ranked ninth in the race for the B.C. Championships Club Trophy awarded to Prince George's Larch Hills Nordic Society.

Individual races at the B.C. Championships were a free mass start on Friday, Feb. 28 and interval start classic distances on Saturday, March 1, and local skiers were impressive in those tests.

Peiffer won her mass start race and finished third in her interval start outing. Also in that midget class were Whistler's Lauren Kilfoy-McKay and Pemberton's Alisa Feuz, who both notched top-10 finishes in each race.

Wittenberg finished second in both events for the younger midget girls' group, while Sakura Kawano was eighth in the mass start for her best result.

Michael Murdoch led strong finishes for Whistler's 2000-born midget boys, capturing bronze in both races. Fraser Doak and Ian Davidson each earned top-10 finishes during the weekend. Joe Davies finished second and third in his events at the 2001 midget level.

Uunila's third-place aggregate finish came after a mass start silver and a seventh-place result in the classic race. Alex Feuz was fifth and 10th in his peewee events.

In juvenile girls' competition, Julia Long and Kaede Kawano each netted two top-15 finishes. Pemberton's Jonathan Rabung placed 17th and 18th in his juvenile boys' races.

Lauren Doak solidified her runner-up ranking in her junior girls' group by finishing on the podium in both weekend races, taking second in the skate race and third in the classic. Brent Murdoch also found the podium, placing third on Friday and fourth on Saturday.

Rounding out local competitors, Callaghan Valley Training Centre skiers topped the U23 men's events both days. Sebastien Dandurand won the mass start and Martin Schrama won the classic race. Geoffrey Richards finished second on both days, and Paul Dupuis posted a fifth-place finish when completing the interval start event.